Deaths due to injury in the military

Introduction: More military personnel die of injuries each year than any ot her cause. This paper provides a basic epidemiologic description of injury deaths in the military. Methods: Using fatality data from the Department of Defense Directorate of Information and Operations Reports and population data from the Defense Man power Data Center, death rates of men and women in the military services fo r unintentional injury, suicide, homicide, and illness were calculated for the 1980-1992 period. Results: From 1980 to 1992, injuries (unintentional injuries, suicides, and homicides combined) accounted for 81% of all nonhostile deaths among activ e duty personnel in the Armed Services. The overall death rate due to unint entional injuries was 62.3 per 100,000 person-years. The suicide rate was 1 2.5, the homicide rate 5.0, and the death rate due to illness 18.4. From 19 80 to 1992 mortality from unintentional injuries declined about 4% per year . The rates for suicide and homicide were stable. Men in the services die f rom unintentional injuries at about 2.5 times the rate of women and from su icides at about twice the rate of women. Women in the military, however, ha ve a slightly higher homicide rate than men. Conclusion: Injuries (unintentional injuries, suicides, and homicides) are the leading cause of death among active duty members of the U.S. Armed Forc es, accounting for about four out of five deaths. The downward trend for fa tal unintentional injuries indicates the success that can be achieved when attention is focused on preventing injuries. Further reduction in injury mo rtality would be facilitated if collection and coding of data were standard ized across the military services. (C) 2000 American Journal of Preventive Medicine.